A new name A new life But not witness protection
by shadow-of-doubtfulness
Summary: Set before the epilogue of the movie. The events that led up to their marriage. Through Iku's point of view. Slight OOC, and the story may become rated M in the far future.
1. Something in my Drink

I've been in love with my prince since I was in high school. I followed the footsteps that I knew of to find him. I couldn't wait to see him, the man whose face I didn't even remember.

After a year under intense training and not knowing the identity of my prince, I was told by Tezuka's older brother, Satoshi. I couldn't believe it; my instructor, Dojo was my prince all along, and I never figured it out when the hints were shoved in my face the whole time.

When I found out, my surprise and my actions made it really awkward between us. I didn't want to face him with the shame of what I told him about my prince. It was embarrassing to see Dojo after bickering about my prince; not knowing that he was talking about himself the entire time. After we got over the awkwardness, we started to date, and now I just drank something weird at the cafe we were at.

"Did you put something in my tea, when I wasn't looking, Dojo?" I accused him.

"Don't worry it was a decoy, I had a feeling that you'd swallow it, you idiot. Don't call me by my last name, we've been dating for months," Dojo said.

"Okay, but what did you put in my tea? I almost choked on it."

"It's something that both Tezuka and Komaki gave their girlfriends."

"I still don't know what it is."

"Why do you have the dorm room to yourself..."

"Because Shibisaki is getting married to Tezuka."

"How does one get married?" Dojo said as he got up from his seat and stared to kneel down in front of me. She pondered the question carefully.

"You get proposed to... Oh... OH! You mean you are proposing? Now?" I asked as he took out a black velvet box, and opened it. Inside was a small silver ring, with three small diamonds inside the band.

"It took you long enough to figure it out. So what do you say? Iku, will you marry me?"

"Yes. Yes I will."

Dojo slipped the real ring onto my finger, and got up and gave me a kiss on the lips. His lips were warm and wet from his tea, but sweet from the shortcake he was eating. We pulled away from the kiss when there was both cheering and scowls in our direction. It was improper to do public displays of affection in this cafe, it slows the staff down when people make a scene.

As we got up and left the cafe, there was a strong gust of wind. The wind knocked me into Dojo, making him hold me to keep me balanced. I turned to him and asked. "So, what did you put in my drink exactly, Dojo?"

"A candy ring. I was going to put the real one in your tea, but if I did that, you might have swallowed it. I've scene that happen a few times in the news, but I didn't want to risk it. And you know, you can use my first name." Dojo said.

"Um Dojo... I mean Atsushi, I don't want to make our engagement public yet. It scares me how much people will talk about us. And well, I'm afraid of the gossip getting around so soon after you gave me this ring." I held up my hand.

"I understand completely; once Genda knows, everyone will know." Atsushi sighed.

Author's Note

Hello readers,

I hope you enjoyed what you have just read. I can't stop thinking about how much I've fallen in love with this manga series. The story is so different that I can't help to be drawn to it.

If you wish to review the story, go ahead. I don't like forcing anyone to do anything.

Enjoy,

shadow-of-doubtfulness


	2. Hidden in Plain Sight

We walked on over to the library, we were working in the stack this afternoon. The smell of the books was like walking into a school, it smelled like autumn leaves and musty air. We walked in together, but soon went to our respective stations. My station was on the second floor, and Atsushi's was on the ground floor of the stacks. Every now and then, we would brush hands when we'd pick up an order sheet from the upstairs. We would play fight a little bit until a second order sheet came up very quickly.

There would then be a chuckle behind us from Komaki, and Tezuka would clear his throat. They were always sure to keep us on track with our job.

I spun around but hid the ring in my breast pocket. I'd have to find a way to keep my ring hidden. Maybe I'd get a chain for safe keeping.

"Lieutenant Komaki, how are the plans for your wedding going? And how are yours going, Tezuka?" I wanted to drift a conversation to them so that they wouldn't be able to catch the fact that I too was getting married.

"Things are going well, Marie is planning it with our mothers. I go over to help when I'm done work for the day. We're still looking for a date though."

"Asako has finished all the planning for ours. She is one amazing strategist when it comes to events. She's done all the research for this and more."

"I can't wait for your weddings, I'm sure they will be magical." I said in a way that teenaged girls do when the get excited but not too excited.

They smiled, it seems that they can't wait either. Another order came in and we all snapped out of it.

"I'll take this one," Tezuka said. He picked up the paper and made a dash for the second floor of the stacks.

I noticed that there was a stack of books waiting to be returned. I went to pick then up, and Dojo looked at my hand and looked for my ring which wasn't on my finger.

"Kasahara, where did you put it?" Dojo asked. Komaki turned to see what we were talking about.

"Don't worry, I put it in my breast pocket with my other important daily items," I replied, patting the pocket gently. Dojo blushed a little, but went back to work. Komaki stared at my pocket wondering what Dojo was referring to.

"Did Dojo give you something?"

"No he didn't give me anything at all. Why do you ask?" I denied, I could feel my face getting redder by the second.

"It appears that you're lying about something. But I won't ask you unless you're ready to answer."

I sighed, man that Komaki was one sneaky bastard. I wanted to tell him now; but if I did, he'd probably tell Shibasaki. I wasn't ready for that yet. I needed a lot more time before I declared our engagement to the task force or anyone in the library.

I finished my job for the day, but I was exhausted of keeping this secret. And one problem of getting married, was that Dojo and I could no longer stay in the dormitories. People who entered the dorm of the opposite sex, end up beaten to a pulp on the girls side, or made fun of on the guys side. I don't want to risk this just yet.

"Dojo, we need to talk."

"What is it Kasahara?"

"We can't stay in the dorms if we get married." I whispered to him.

"I have a plan for that, I've been planning to leave the dorms since Komaki asked Marie to marry him."

"But that was almost a year ago." I said a little loudly. Thank goodness that the area was empty.

"Yes, but I found a small house not too far from the library, for a really good price. A three bedroom house for the price of thirty thousand dollars. There isn't anything wrong with it but it's a very good price, all because it's close to a possible war zone."

"That's an amazing price. But it would be suspicious if we were caught buying furniture together."

"The furniture is included for an extra price. It's used but in excellent condition. I've put a down payment on the house about a year ago, I just never moved in. But I'm going to move in a few weeks once I've paid for it completely. Would you join me when you're ready to move out of your dorm?"

"I'll do that, but I feel bad for having you pay for everything. I need to make it up to you."

"No you don't. I can handle this, I'm good with my money. I'll think of a way for you to repay me if you feel bad about it."

I stopped in my tracks, he was being sweet now. It isn't often when he shows me this side of him when we are at headquarters. I reached into my breast pocket and took out my keys and my engagement ring. I held on to the ring and put it on after making sure that no one was around to see me put it on. I smiled at Dojo and I brushed his hand with mine.

I locked the door behind us and we walked over to the dorms. There was nobody out side the dorms right now. It was close to curfew after all. We stopped in front of the vending machines and I bent down a bit to give him a kiss on the cheek. I was about to pull away, but Dojo trapped my face within his hands and kissed me back. I blushed furiously, even my ears turned red.

"Goodnight Atsushi. It's getting really late, but I'll see you in the morning."

"Goodnight Iku, I'll see you in the office."

We said our goodbyes and went in opposite directions. I walked down the tiny hallway to my dorm, which was up the stairs. As I entered the room I had all to myself, I turned on my cellphone. There was text message from Shibasaki, asking if I wanted to go out for drinks on Saturday. I replied that I would go, as long as the bar was close to the library. We usually stayed for a long time, but I didn't want to stay out past curfew, I'd get in big trouble otherwise.

I was about to go to bed, but then I remembered the chain that I was going to put my ring on. I found my tiny jewelry box that my parents gave me and found a half empty locket that I used to love when I was in high school. The locket was an antique that I bought at a garage sale. It was rectangular and was big in size, so that pictures would actually fit in it.

I opened it, there was an old picture of me from high school in there. Maybe I'd ask Dojo if he'd want to go out on an errand with me, and I could bring him to a photo booth. I'm sure that he'd do that with me.

I put my ring on the locket chain and put it on my night table. I then went to sleep for the night.

Author's Note

Hey guys,

How did you like it so far? This is my second Library Wars fanfic, and I'm really starting to enjoy the idea of writing again. There was a lack of stories that happen after the movie. I think I saw about two, but I can't remember exactly.

Review if you wish to do so.

Thanks for reading,

shadow-of-doubtfulness


	3. A not so secret, secret

I got to the office a bit later than usual this morning, I had to make sure that the locket was hidden after all. The problem with jewelry at work is that it can restrict you by getting tangled in things such as hair and your buttons. I had to make sure that it didn't happen with my non-fatigues. I arrived in the office.

"You're a bit later than usual, Iku." Dojo said. It was just us in the office.

"I found chain that I wanted to put my ring on so it wouldn't get lost. It was just that the chain got a bit tangled in it's box." I replied, and pulled out my ring without showing him the locket. The locket part was heavy after all.

Atsushi gave me a small smile and reached for my chain. But as he did that, Komaki entered the office.

"I'm sorry am I interrupting something?"Komaki asked, then noticed the chain that Dojo was reaching for.

I jumped like a child watching their first scary movie. I wasn't expecting anyone this early. I took my chain and slid it under my uniform, but the ring got stuck in the top button of my uniform's blouse. I fiddled with the chain, but it wouldn't let go.

"Do you need help?" He offered as he walked on over. Dojo and I looked like deer in headlights as Komaki looked to see where the tangle was. He then spotted my ring that was still suck on my shirt.

"Oh. Congratulations." Komaki said in a hushed voice.

"Th-thanks, I guess." I stammered, not sure how answer that. I looked at Atsushi, looking for a hint of what I could say.

"So, when did this happen?" Komaki said as he pointed in the direction of my ring.

"Yesterday, but please keep it quiet. We don't want it to be all over the library. We're not ready to be open about our engagement yet." Dojo asked.

"Are you going to at least let Tezuka know?" Komaki asked.

"Let me know what?" Tezuka said as he walked into the office.

I sighed and looked at Tezuka, I then looked at Dojo. I grabbed his hand.

"Atsushi and I are getting married. He proposed yesterday."

"Congratulations, but why didn't you tell us, then? Asako was so close to losing her bet."

"What bet?" I asked.

"It's nothing important anyway."

"So, why are you keeping it quiet?"

"A public engagement will make the gossip go haywire, and neither of us want to get stared at wherever we go. It gets distracting." Dojo explained.

"I'll tell Shibasaki myself, but don't tell a soul. Nobody, or I'll beat you up myself." I threatened.

I then got to work in the office. Today was a slow day. Absolutely nothing to do at all. After a while, I just called it quits for the day; because the task force hasn't had a mission or legal paperwork to do for a long time.

"Atsushi, I don't have anything to do. Don't you have recruits to train?"

"I don't have any recruits anymore. They all graduated."

"Do you want to go somewhere with me? I have a few errands to run."

"Sure but I just have a little more work to do then I can leave."

Komaki chuckled, and Tezuka smiled. Once they were done, they would go home and plan their weddings with their brides. But the idea of Dojo and Kasahara getting married made them smile. They have been in love for over eight years; but never did anything until recently.

I walked over to my dorm room, when Dojo got up from his desk. He was finished all his paperwork. And we were both going to town for some errands, after we put on civilian clothes. We met up in the common area of the dorms.

"Ready to go?"

"Where are we heading exactly?"

"The post office, bookstore, a secret place, and maybe the house you bought."

"A secret place? Why would you say that? I'll only be wondering where we're going the whole time."

"It doesn't matter, now let's be on our way."

I grabbed his hand and I was thankful that everyone was on duty away from the dorms. It embarrassed me to be seen being so forward with Dojo. The other members of the dorms would usually give cat calls and whistles when they'd see us doing things together.

We left the gate of the library and started to head to the post office. It was just a few blocks ahead. We were no longer holding hands, but walking comfortably next to each other. We continued until we got to the building with the red sign.

Dojo opened the door to be courteous, and I walked in.

I then went to browse the stationary and envelopes and stamps. I picked out a few kinds but eventually decided on the floral stationary because it was printed with camomile flowers. I also picked up some envelopes and lots of stamps. I paid and we left the store.

As we were walking to the bookstore, I couldn't help but think of my parents.

"Atsushi, we're going to have to tell our families sooner or later."

"If they don't take it well, we could always elope."

I smiled, as we continued our walk around town. I didn't by much after the trip to the post office. But when we walked in front of an arcade, I grabbed onto Dojo's sleeve and dragged him into a photo booth.

"Stay here, I'm going to pay for the pictures." I said as I walked out of the small booth.

"Iku, why are we taking pictures? I thought you wanted to see our house?"

"I wanted a memory of us to look back on. And beside we don't have any pictures of us anyway."

I put money in the machine and hurried into the tiny booth. There was a countdown and so I squeezed in right next to Dojo. I was smiling, but he was being neutral.

"Come on Atsushi, smile." I said after the first picture was taken.

"Fine, but I don't like getting my picture taken."

The countdown for the second picture started. I tried to make him smile by holding his hand and leaning into a kiss. All I did was surprise him in time for the picture.

"How many pictures did you pay for?"

"Six. And we've only done two. Try to lighten up a bit, I want to celebrate our engagement together."

"Alright," he said with a slight smile.

I reached around his neck and held him close to me. He was smiling very nicely, even though he wasn't enjoying the little picture show.

When the camera stopped, we exited the booth. I picked up the strip of pictures and showed it to him.

"I like this one." I said as I pointed to the one with his surprised expression.

He skimmed through the pictures and pointed to the one where we were both smiling.

"I like this one."

"I like it too, how about we both take a copy of the pictures?" I suggested as I held up the second sheet of pictures.

He held out his hand, and I gave him his set. I took out the chain that I use to keep my ring on, and opened the locket. I carefully ripped the photograph of the surprised Dojo, and put it in the slot that was missing a picture.

After I had done that, I showed it to Dojo. He pulled the locket a bit so he could see the pictures inside. He looked at my old picture. It was a picture of me in high school. I was still in my school uniform when that picture was taken.

"How old is this picture? That uniform looks very familiar."

"I took this picture when I was still a high school student. So it's about eight or nine years old."

"So was the photo booth the 'secret place' that you were referring to?"

"Yeah, but now I'm very curious about this house you bought. How about we head on over?"

Dojo nodded, and took my hand. We walked down the street, hand in hand; not looking at anything in particular. We continued walking through the winding street of the town, slowly making our way to the library. Knowing that we weren't going to the library, I started to pay attention to where we were heading; so that I could remember the way for future notice.

We walked for two blocks until Dojo stopped, making me stumble. I looked up at the house and gasped a little. It was bigger than I thought, but it was perfect.

"Welcome home." He said as he put his hands into his pants pocket.

"Can we go inside?"

"Yes, I have the keys right here." He said as he held out a matching set of tinkling keys.

We walked up to the front door and unlocked the door. I walked in, dropped my bags, and took off my shoes. There were no slippers, so were just walked around in our socks. I gasped at how beautiful the house looked. It was like a dream.

"Atsushi, it's perfect."

"I'm glad you like it Iku."

We continued to explore the building, it was fun. Every now and then, we'd exchange glances. We then started to explore the upstairs level, and see the bedrooms. We first looked at the small bedrooms. There were twin beds in both of them, and lots of bookshelves. In the closet, I spotted a toy chest that looked really heavy.

It might come in handy, I thought.

"Do you want to see our bedroom?" Dojo asked.

I nodded, and followed him to the end of the hallway. He opened the door, and I saw the light blue walls of the room. There was a lot of light streaming in from the windows. I made my way over to the window and looked outside, just down the street was the library.

"Dojo, this place is amazing."

"I hoped you'd like it."

I lay myself down on the bed, and Dojo joined me; putting his head by mine. We were getting close to a kiss, when our cell phones started to ring.

"Kasahara here."

"Dojo here"

"What do you mean we have an emergency meeting? We're on our way." We both said into our phones.

We both carefully ran down the stairs in our socks, and to the front door. We slid on our shoes, locked the door; and ran like hell to the meeting room.

We opened the doors together, and found the closest seats together.

"Glad to see that you could make it." Komaki said from his seat right next to us.


	4. Missions and Moving In

People were staring at us. I looked down at myself and flinched. I was still in my town clothing, and so was Dojo.

"Ahem, now that I can get your attention, I'd like to tell you about our new mission."

Everyone's head snapped to face Genda, who was speaking.

"We've been given orders to pick up a new shipment of books from a used bookstore in Karuizawa. They are afraid that the Media Betterment Committee will come after the books because the whole store is closing. They plan to give us all the books too add to our collection. We will be sending the whole task force to collect the books."

There was a low murmuring in the meeting room. Karuizawa was such a quiet city, but it was early summer just now. There would be a lot of people in the area for vacationing. This mission could very dangerous.

"We are leaving for Karuizawa in six days, and staying for a week. Be sure to wear your town clothing when walking around town to avoid being noticed by the MBC. But on the last day, be sure to be ready for open fire. We are only officially there as Task Force on that day. The rest of the week is covert ops."

I looked at Dojo, he seemed very concerned about something. He was scowling a tiny bit.

"Task Force is dismissed." Genda said.

We all got up and saluted, waiting for the General to leave. I turned to talk to Dojo, but he ushered us into the hallway.

"Is there anything wrong with Karuizawa?" I asked him.

"It's just that my family likes to vacation there. I plan to make sure that they're not there before we set off." He said honestly with a sigh.

"I understand, I'd do anything to make sure that my family would be safe too." I reassured him.

"I'm going to make a phone call, then." He said, and started to turn away.

"Do you want to go back to the house after? Maybe we can bring over some of your things." I whispered to him, we were in an area where we could easily be overheard.

Dojo nodded, and I smiled. I gave him the hand motion for 'call me', and retreated to my dorm room.

As soon as I entered my room, I went to my closet. For a member of the army, I had quite a lot of clothing in my room. I had a mountain of shirts and different kinds of bottoms on the floor. I folded the clean clothing and put the dirty clothes in my hamper. I decided that because I would be leaving for Karuizawa in less than a week, that I'd take the time to pack now.

Genda said that we should pack civilian clothes, that was a weird request. I thought, as I was preparing my bag for the upcoming mission.

I packed enough clothing for the week. One light jacket that was light blue in colour. A few miscellaneous shirts and bottoms. And a dress, in case we were to go to a place with a dress code. I also packed some necessities as well. In less than an hour, I packed all that I needed for this trip.

I still haven't gotten a phone call from Dojo, so I decided to do my laundry on campus. I grabbed my hamper and started to head over to the laundry room.

Once I entered the laundry room, there were a few girls just finishing up their laundry.

"Hello ms. Kasahara," they were all from the Affairs Department except for one.

"Hello, is there a machine free?" I asked them politely.

"The one in the middle is free," a girl answered.

"Thanks," I said as I went to dump in my load of laundry.

As I waited, the girls seemed to want to ask me something. Every time looked up from my laundry, they seemed to look down sheepishly.

"Is there something you wanted to ask me?" I asked, getting a bit agitated by their constant stares.

"We were wondering what it was like to be the only woman on the Task Force." They collectively asked.

"So that was it. It's a lot of hard work, but it's a great learning experience. There are a lot of guys who are fearless in the line of duty, who I greatly respect. I personally enjoy it, even though there are plenty of ways to get hurt." I said in a friendly way.

A buzzer sounded after I finished speaking. It was my clothing, they were ready to dry. Because I was in a bit of a hurry, I put my clothing in the dryer, even though I could hang them to dry outside in the cool air.

The girls then left the room, and I relaxed a bit. I never fully recovered from the time in Ibaraki, so being in close quarters with other girls that I didn't know very well made me nervous and defensive.

I finally received a message from Dojo when my laundry was finished. He was going to be waiting in front of the gates in a few minutes, he was just packing his things to bring over to the house.

I'll be there in a flash. Just grabbing some of my stuff to bring over, I texted.

See you soon then, he texted back.

I rushed back to my room, and stuffed my clean clothing into a duffel bag. It wasn't all my clothes, but it was most of it. I hurried over to the front gate, and saw him.

"Dojo." I called out to him, holding my bag to my side.

"There you are. You weren't kidding when you said you'd be here in a flash. If only you were this prompt when it comes to work." He said in awe at first, and then smirked.

I smiled, but after the second phrase, I scowled. Then I looked down at his feet. He had a large suitcase, and a few suits in dry-cleaning bags.

"Do you need help with carrying anything? Those suits are a hassle to carry after a while, they drag on the ground." I offered nicely.

"No I'm good, I can carry my own things." Dojo replied.

"Alright. Let's go then." I said, finishing our conversation.

Dojo led the way as we walked to the house that we only entered together once. This time, I paid more attention to our surroundings so that I could find my way over alone. The house was yellow in colour, with a tiny little garden in the front. I was so stupid not to have noticed the exterior the first time.

"Can you grab my keys, Iku? They're in my left jacket pocket." He said as he was struggling to hold onto his suits in one hand.

"Which one is it?" I asked as I held up a keyring with several keys on it.

"Yellow key for the yellow house." He said.

"Well that will make life easier when it comes to remembering your keys."

"Can you just open the door, I'm going to drop my suits." He said in an agitated way.

I opened the door quickly, and grabbed his suitcase. I let him enter first, because he was going to drop his things otherwise. Atsushi walk in and went to the table. He didn't take off his shoes, but I took mine off and locked the door. I then joined him with his suitcase and my duffel bag.

"How about we put these in our bedroom?" I motioned to our things.

"Sure, but what's in you bag? It looks heavy." He asked.

"My clothes that I don't need to keep in my dorm. I have enough to keep me going for the time being."

We then went up the stairs, once Atsushi took off his shoes. I was so glad that I brought my clothes. It was going to take me a long time to bring things over otherwise.

When we entered the bedroom again, I couldn't help but gasp. The room was breathtaking. This house was perfect, I couldn't deny it at all.

I went to the bed and lay down, dropping my things by the closet. Atsushi, hung up his suits and the joined me. I turned off my cell, and so did he. This time nobody would bother us.

"So how did it go with your parents? Are they in Karuizawa?" I asked him.

"They are not planning to go there for a while. But they do want to have dinner with us before we head on our mission." Atsushi replied.

"Do you think they'd accept us getting married?"

"I have absolutely no idea, they usually have accepted things in the past. I mail them every second week, so they know about us being a couple, just not us being engaged."

"When are we going to dinner with them?"

"The night before we leave for our assignment."

Author's Note

Hey guys,

So what are you up to now? It's going to be holiday season soon, are you going to be reading during vacation? I'm going to try to post more frequently, but you never know with writer's block.

How do you like things now? My ideas come a lot quicker with this story rather than Prince of War (I'm so sorry for how long it takes me to update.). Is there anything you want me to put in the story? If you do have anything, just PM me, and I'll try to make it happen.

Thanks for reading this far,

shadow-of-doubtfulness


	5. Excuses over Breakfast

I woke up with a start. I don't know where I was at all. I looked around the room. The only thing I could see was that there was a window that showed a view of the library. I stared out the window trying to remember where I was exactly.

"It's nice to see that you're up, Iku." someone said behind me.

My head snapped up, I knew that voice.

"Why aren't I in my dorm room, Atsushi?" I asked him.

"We talked so long that we couldn't make it to our dorms before curfew. So, we decided that we'd just share the bed."

"We didn't you know..." I asked him while blushing a little. I really didn't remember last night at all.

"No we didn't, but you were thrashing in your sleep. Did you have a nightmare?" He told me in a gentle voice.

"I don't remember."

I could vaguely remember what it was about. It had something to do with my family and Dojo. I think we were talking about the engagement, but I really didn't remember anything except my mom's reaction. Ugh, she was going to be so emotional.

"Are you always this disoriented first thing in the morning?" He asked after watching me just now. I was clutching my temples and shaking my head; while rocking my body as I stood.

"Shibasaki said something about that to me a long time ago. I thought I outgrew it." I thought aloud, continuing my actions.

"Do you want to have breakfast? We could go to a cafe if you want." He said, changing the subject.

"Aren't we late for work?" I asked him accusingly while checking my watch.

"I took a personal day off, so that I could finish moving in my things. If you can think of an excuse not to go into work, we can go out for breakfast and work on the wedding."

I grabbed my cell phone and thought of something while holding it. Dojo looked at me expectantly. I gave him a hand motion of zipping his lips. I then dialed in a phone number and listened to the ringing as it tried to connect with our office. A clicking sound happened after the third ring.

"Hello, this is Tezuka speaking." He answered the phone like an official.

"It's me Kasahara, I can't make it in today." I said with a few coughs.

"Why can't you make it in?" He asked with a sigh.

"I'm sick and I can't make it. Can you do my paperwork for me?" I asked him, still fake coughing.

"Define sick." He asked. I was so screwed if I can't think of something quickly.

"I think it was something I ate, because I couldn't stop puking until a moment ago." I said wavering my voice a bit. I tried to sound a bit upset too.

"Are you sure it's not morning sickness?" It was Komaki who spoke from a cross the office, registered into the phone. Don't tell me they put me on speaker phone!

"How can I be pregnant? I'm still a virgin." I shouted into my phone. From the amount of laughter I heard on the other end, I could swear that they put me on speaker phone. I was going to kill them when I got in the office tomorrow.

"Well that was nice to know, I hope you feel better. You owe me." Tezuka said, whispering the last part.

"Fine." I said right before in hit the end call button. Well that went well.

I looked across the room to the doorway. Dojo was there trying in to hold in a laugh, but he managed to stop himself as he opened his mouth to speak.

"That was interesting to watch. You were like this when you told me you had 'cramps', when you were really going to get Marie; weren't you, Iku?" He asked.

I blushed at the memory and nodded.

"Why was the first thing that they assumed, was that I am pregnant? I can't believe it!" I muttered.

"I don't know how to answer that, but how about we just get dressed and go out for breakfast?"

I walked to the closet and looked through my duffel bag. I pulled out a large sweater, and a pair of jeans.

"I'll be downstairs."

After he left, I dressed myself very quickly. I then went down the stairs to the front entrance, where Dojo was. I leaned over so I could put on my shoes, and then got up. Now that my shoes were on, we could go.

I opened the front door and stepped out. Dojo soon joined me.

"Where do you want to go for breakfast?" I asked him, I didn't know which direction to go.

"I was thinking that the cafe where I proposed would be nice. It's not that far, and nobody from the library goes there." Dojo suggested.

"It would be suspicious if we were seen together after I did say I was sick."

"Yes it already is a little, since we both aren't in work on the same day too."

I nodded in agreement, and walked next to him. We walked in a comfortable silence until we reached the town.

Once we reached the cafe, I opened the door for him. We walked in and stopped, scouting for a waitress. It was a sit-down cafe, that had both wait-staff along with a counter for people who wanted to have their things to go.

A waitress appeared, as we stood for a short while.

"Hello, how many people are you going to be?"

"Just a table for two please."

"Alright, if you'd both follow me then."

She brought us to a small table in the corner, next to a window.

"Is this table alright?"

"It's fine."

We took off our light jackets, and sat down. There was sunshine pouring onto the table from the window, making us warm.

"Iku." Atsushi started.

"Yes," I answered.

"We should probably talk about our wedding, and plan it." He suggested to me.

"I thought we were going to do that at home?" I said forgetfully.

"We can do the harder things when we go home, but we can discuss the easier things now. That way we can accomplish more things, quickly."

"I guess we can do that."

I looked at the menu. It's always hard to choose something here, everything looks and smells so good. Ugh, why does everything need to be so hard. I must have been getting dramatic over this again because Atsushi looked up from his menu.

"Can't decided huh?" He said smugly with laughing eyes.

"Order for me, I can't choose anything at all."I said, looking sheepishly at him.

"Fine, but you'll owe me something sweet in return." He bargained.

"Fine." I retorted.

The waitress came back to our table, and pulled out a pad of paper.

"Are you ready to order? Or do you need more time?" She asked in a professional way.

"We're ready." Dojo said to her.

"What would you like miss?" She looked toward me.

"Uh..." I said, eying Dojo to help me out.

"She would like a chocolate crepes, with coffee. Put an unhealthy amount of sugar in the coffee and one milk." He said, making the waitress spin around.

I looked at him in horror, and then at the waitress. The waitress looked horrified at the mention of how much sugar would be put into my coffee.

"And you sir? What would you like?" She said, losing her masked expression.

"Strawberry crepes, and a cup of camomile tea. And a side of fresh fruit please." He answered clearly.

"It will be ready in a short while, I'll bring your beverages in a moment." She said as she left the table and headed toward the kitchen.

I met his eyes and started laughing quietly, he chuckled along with me.

"If we were in uniform, I think she'd never be able to forget us." I thought aloud.

"That's why we have a cafeteria, the staff are completely used to us."

"I suppose."

We sat there in silence, not sure what to say next.

"Iku, would you rather have an indoor or outdoor wedding?" He interrogated.

"I think an outdoor wedding would be nice, but it depends on the weather."

"Why not an indoor wedding?"

"Being inside is confining, and I like a nice breeze."

"What season would you want to get married in?

"I think the idea of getting married in the late spring or early summer. It's not too cold and not too hot."

"I like spring, but I'm surprised you didn't say June specifically."

"June weddings are constant, and it doesn't appeal to me much. Have you heard the main reason why people choose June for their weddings? It's so that they'd have the blessing of Juno, the goddess of marriage. But those relationships don't always last for long."

"You know quite a bit about this."

"I read it in one of my books."

"Ah."

"Here are your drinks." The waitress said as she placed the fine cups in front of us. It made me jump a little because I was so into our conversation.

"Thank you very much." We said in unison to her.

"Your food will be ready in a few moments." She said as she turned to leave.

I took a sip of my coffee, it was just right. I sighed as the warmth met my stomach. It was starting to get really cold outside. By the time we got back from our mission, there would be snow a little while after.

I looked up at Dojo, he was looking at me with his cup of tea in his hands.

"Is your coffee just right?" the waitress said as she came with both of our plates.

"Yes, it's perfect." I said as I moved my mug to the side of the table.

The waitress put down our plates and turned to leave.

"Enjoy your meal, let me know if you need anything." She said before she left.

"I put a quarter cup of sugar in her coffee, and she said it was perfect." The waitress muttered under her breath when she thought she was out of earshot.

I looked down sheepishly, and Dojo looked at me incredulously.

"Pass me your coffee, Iku." He said to me.

I did as he asked. He took my mug and took a sip. He cringed and gave me back my mug.

"Yes, that is the same amount you put in my coffee, over a year ago. Are you sure you're not a beetle?"

"You wouldn't have proposed if I were an insect." I said with a hmph.

I took this moment to take a bite of my crepe. It was delicious, just what I was hoping for. The chocolate was not too bitter and not too sweet. It went well with my coffee.

"Can I have a bite? I'll give you a bite of mine in return." I coaxed Dojo, hoping he'd comply.

"Fine," he said as he picked up his knife.

He cut me a piece with a big strawberry on his fork. I cut him a big piece as well and handed over my fork, replacing mine with his. I put in my mouth and slid the crepe off. The crepe melted in my mouth and the strawberry was juicy for a fruit that was out of season.

"It tastes like winter," he said as he passed my fork over.

"It tastes like spring." I said as I traded his fork back.

He nodded in agreement, and we continued to eat our meals. After I finished my last bite, Dojo snapped me out of my daydream.

"Iku, do you want more coffee for your sugar?"

"Oh, no thank you." I said, blushing because I was so out of it.

"We'll take our bill then." Dojo said taking out his wallet.

"I'll pay." I said to Dojo, when the waitress had left.

"Iku." Dojo protested.

"I'll do it, besides you bought us a house. The least I could do is pay for our meal." I countered.

"Fine." He said as he put away his wallet.

After I paid, we left to go to the library to pick up some more stuff.

We went into the dormitory and headed to our respective dorms. As I was heading to mine, I noticed that the door was unlocked. I opened the door ready to scream if there was someone in there.

Sitting at the kotatsu table was Shibasaki.

"Shibasaki! How did you get in? Why are you here?" I exclaimed, not expecting anyone in my room.

"Silly, I lived here and I asked for the key. I wanted to check on you since you were 'sick'. But I see that you are completely healthy, maybe even too healthy. So since both you and Dojo weren't in work today, there are plenty of ideas of what you were doing." She said, ready to pounce on what information I could give her.

I twiddled my fingers, trying to think of an answer. I noticed that I had my ring on. I inwardly cursed myself as I quickly hid my hands behind behind my back. But it was too late, she saw.

"So, when were you going to tell me? I am the first one you've told right?" She asked smiling and almost predatory smile.

"I was going to tell you tomorrow night when we were going out for drinks."

"I see that you didn't answer my other question. So, who else knows you're engaged?"

"Komaki and Tezuka." I answered.

"So, Tezuka already knows." She said grinning.

"Are we still going out tomorrow?" I asked, wanting to make sure.

"Yes, and I suppose you want me to keep your engagement a secret, right?"

I nodded, not wanting to give her any more ammunition.

"I'll see you after work tomorrow." She said as she left my room.

Author's note

Hey guys,

What do you think? Sorry for the wait,. I'm at the end of term at school, so I will soon be on Winter vacation (2 full months!). Anyways, I'll be writing at a more constant pace in a few weeks, so never fear.

Review if you so wish and I'll see you next time.

shadow-of-doubtfulness


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